Chapter 10: The Second Dish

The next morning, Noah ignored the pain of his hangover and paid close attention to all the cadets in the mess hall, sharing news and gossip. This world didn’t have social media, and in the academy, isolated from the outside world, the only vectors of information were the cadets recruited to serve at the party. Not all of them were willing to divulge their activities from the previous evening.

Still, Noah could see the story being disseminated among a few groups of friends. The way they bowed their heads with hushed voices, the expressions of jealousy, shock, and horror on their faces, and the occasional shouts or laughs from people who could not contain themselves were all better than television.

Alexis and Sophia had yet to be informed of Noah’s indiscretions, so they ate breakfast with him as usual. They didn’t notice him watching Galvin. He didn’t want to miss that beautiful moment. He hoped to see Galvin’s face the moment he found out what had happened the previous night. Henryk was out of the way, and Mark had disappeared, so he only sat with Seraph. Unfortunately, breakfast ended before he could see it.

Noah’s sword class was uneventful. A few cadets were giving him odd looks, but nothing noticeable. The story hadn’t spread far enough. It was in the bathhouse that details were being given. Noah hid his face with a towel and listened to the cadets chattering. With his earlier feats, his role at the Knight Sheath party was believable to most, but when Ziradith’s name was mentioned, almost everyone scoffed at the ridiculous concept.

Alexis arrived when he took his seat in the mess hall and slammed her tray onto the table. “Is it true?” she asked with cold eyes. Beside her was Sophia, looking like she didn’t know what to think.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Alexis punched the table, drawing the eyes of cadets at other tables. “Answer me.”

“Yes, it’s true.”

Alexis exhaled with her hand over her face. “I swear, you are the enemy of all women.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Look, you hate Ziradith, and we’ve established that I don’t fit your interests, so stop pretending you’re jealous or anything similar. You heard about the Knight’s Sheath burning down, right? Galvin did it. I figured this would be good payback. If anything, you should be applauding the poeticism and my commitment to a theme. I could have just burned his house down, but I put real effort into this.”

“Believe it or not, I have noticed a theme, and it is disgusting. I am honestly curious: are there any limits to your depravity?”

“Oh honey, that is not a conversation you want to have.”

“While I do share Alexis’s horror, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed,” said Sophia. Alexis flashed her a look of disbelief. “What? This is going in the history books. Knights have died for this kind of recognition. And you tell me the last time there was gossip this juicy.”

“Please don’t encourage him.”

“I’m guessing you two heard about last night while in the women’s bath. Who was telling stories?”

“Allison Crowberry.”

“Ah, yeah. I think I lit a fire in her. I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t move into the Knight’s Sheath at the end of the year.”

There! He looked past Alexis and Sophia, watching someone approach Galvin and start talking. Noah couldn’t read the cadet’s lips from this distance, but Galvin’s facial expressions were clear as could be. He got mad, thinking that it was just a sick joke the cadet was making at his expense, then tried to dismiss it as a hollow taunt. Next came the details, with Galvin’s barrier of denial crumbling as he learned what had happened, where it happened, and all the people who had been around to see it in all its scandalous glory.

Galvin, his face becoming paler by the second, looked around and realized how many cadets were shooting him glances as they guffawed at the sinful tale. By that point, it was still possible to remain in denial, but then, he looked to Noah. Upon seeing the smirk on his face as he raised his goblet in celebration, Galvin snapped.

“NOOOOAAAAAAH!”

He climbed up onto the table and drew his magic staff, then pointed it at Noah with a tan-colored magic circle appearing. He didn’t bother naming the spell, just released a crazed scream and forced it to activate. The floor was torn apart as the earth beneath Galvin’s feet fused to create a massive floating orb. Noah thought back to Mira, the dead mage in Clive specializing in earth magic, and wondered if she could’ve matched Galvin’s spell.

Everyone between Noah and Galvin instinctively ducked down, and the sphere was launched, shooting across the mess hall like a runaway semi. Noah dodged one way while Alexis grabbed Sophia and pulled her the other way. The orb smashed through the brick wall like it was nothing, as well as every wall behind it, producing audible shockwaves.

Noah stood up and dusted himself off. “You got something you want to say to me, Princess? Please say it softly, as I’m a bit hungover from the party last night.”

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” Galvin created another magic circle, this one blue, and swung his staff.

All the liquid in everyone’s cups rose into the air and shot towards Noah like a load of buckshot, each projectile flying with the kinetic force of a 90mph fastball. Noah didn’t get out of the way; at least, that’s what it looked like to everyone. He had already activated both his spells and let his clone take the attack. For those watching, it looked like every single orb simply missed him by a hair’s breadth while he stood calmly.

“You’re aim is terrible. Me, I always get my target, like when I shot my load across your mother’s face. Considering how you burned down the old Knight’s Sheath, I think it’s only fitting she work at the new one. After all, she’s been bailing you out of trouble since the day you started walking.” He spoke loud enough for everyone in the mess hall to hear him. Galvin screamed at the top of his lungs and lunged towards Noah, jumping from table to table with his staff raised high and a scythe blade of water forming around the tip.

“Catch me if you can,” Noah taunted before running out of the hole in the wall.

Galvin chased Noah outside to the academy grounds, to the main gate, and down into the city, all while Noah continuing to taunt him. Rapid blasts of earth and water were launched, none of them ever reaching him. Noah led him to the abandoned slums, where nobody would intervene. When they were completely alone, he finally stopped and turned to Galvin, the prince gasping for air and furious beyond all measure.

“Tell me something, when Mark gave you the idea to burn down the Knight’s Sheath, did it ever occur to you that it would be a bad idea? You killed eighteen people and wounded another twenty, but even worse, you destroyed priceless research data that I had plans for. Did you stop and think about what would happen afterward? What I would do to you? Did you really think there would be no repercussions just because you’re a royal bastard?”

“All I could think of was you and all those goddamn whores screaming in agony as you burned! My only regret was that you wouldn’t have the sense to curse my name while the flames turned your bones to ash!”

Surprising Galvin, Noah began to laugh, which turned into a mad cackle. “I’ll admit, Princess, you did manage to wound me with that fire, perhaps more than anyone else ever has. Crazy as it may sound, I should be congratulating you, maybe even thanking you. I can’t remember the last time I got to feel the vibrancy, the ecstasy, of such blinding rage. The chance to cast logic and reason aside, to have this genuine hatred that I feel in my bones and enjoy the rush, comes along oh so rarely for me. These emotions, these feelings, they’re so wonderfully intoxicating.

You did it, Galvin. Well done. You succeeded in something that few have accomplished: You pissed me off.” Noah reached out into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth bundle, tossing it to Galvin. “Here’s your reward for such a stunning accomplishment, as well as a ‘thank you’ for this interesting experience.”

Galvin caught it and looked at it. It was his mother’s monogrammed handkerchief, drenched in semen. The smell hit Galvin, and he dropped it, then vomited his half-eaten lunch onto the ground. “I’LL KILL YOU!” he screamed.

His temper had already cost him all of his mana, so Galvin charged and began swinging at Noah with his staff like a madman. His moves were feral and obvious, and Noah had no trouble avoiding them, never even needing to draw his sword.

“Your friend Mark told me all about you and your failures. Every time you’d fuck up, your mother would pull strings to clean up the mess. She ran your life to try and keep you from embarrassing her any further, but you couldn’t even do that right, and she despised you for it. The power, the authority, the wealth, everything you think you have comes from your parents, neither of whom ever loved you.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Galvin yelled, continuing to attack Noah like a rabid animal.

“What are you going to do now, Princess? You think she can keep bailing you out of trouble after last night? All her political power, her ability to intimidate and leverage, it all disappeared when she stepped on that stage, eager for me to use her like a piece of meat. I’ll be surprised if she can even retain her territory after this. You, the cucked prince, son of the whore duchess, you’ll have nothing, you’ll be nothing, just like always. Even your shithead brother Seraph has more prospects than you.”

Galvin could no longer swing his weapon. He was gasping for air, barely able to stand. Having failed to land a single hit, he released a howl of frustration.

“I’m guessing you probably had a wet nurse as a baby. How does it feel knowing I sucked on your mom’s tits more than you did? It’s a shame you couldn’t be there to watch, Galvin, hear how much she loved to take it up the ass. It was like she was singing a beautiful song. The majesty of her voice could have brought the gods themselves to tears. Oh wait, I know how we can fix this. You see, I’ve discovered this nifty kind of magic, time magic. I can’t travel to different time periods or anything like that, but I can show you events from the past. Take a look.”

He opened up his grimoire to a specific page, where a magic circle had been drawn. It was a monster-summoning circle, but Noah had altered specific runes and parts of the formula, and rather than a piece of a monster, a lock of Ziradith’s hair had been glued to the page. In his other hand, Noah held a magic wand, one he had bought before entering the academy. It had the ability to duplicate the effects of spells, such as launching two fireballs when the caster only summoned one.

The power of the wand allowed him to create a second clone, and with the magic circle and Ziradith’s hair, he cast her likeness upon it. Now, standing before Noah were two illusory clones of him and Ziradith. Normally, he could only copy someone’s appearance after killing them, but the summoning circle provided an excellent alternative. As long as he had their DNA and properly calibrated the circle, he could summon perfect copies that he could control. The only problem was that this method didn’t replicate clothes, but that was rather a blessing right now.

Noah manipulated the two illusions like puppets on strings, having his doppelganger kiss and fondle the nude clone of Ziradith. Galvin turned away and began to dry-heave.

“You really think I’ll let you block this out?” Noah asked.

He punched the prince in the throat, bringing him to his knees, and then beat him savagely. Galvin shrieked in agony as Noah snapped bones and dislocated joints, all so that he couldn’t fight back and lay helpless on the ground. Noah pulled Galvin’s head back and forced his eyes open, so he had to watch the two illusions fuck like porn stars. Galvin screamed and thrashed, doing whatever he could to try and look away, but Noah was devoid of mercy.

He didn’t have all morning to torment the prince, so he had his illusions speed through the reenactment, but he was thorough. He perfectly recreated Ziradith’s lewd moans and how she begged him to go harder and deeper, as well as all her movements, from how she rubbed her breasts while riding on top, to playing with her clit as she was sodomized. He even managed to recreate the finale, when Ziradith regained her senses and cursed Noah, just to clear up any lingering doubts in Galvin’s mind that it wasn’t true.

“In our fight, you laughed about my magic abilities, and it’s true that I can’t turn armies to ash, level buildings, or heal wounds, but it doesn’t matter. I already have all the power I need to tear your reality to shreds.” Noah flipped Galvin over, his face now a mess of tears and vomit, and drew a knife. “Now you’re going to spend the rest of your life remembering me fucking your mother as the last thing you ever saw.”

The prince released a bloodcurdling scream and tried to fight back, but he couldn’t stop Noah from gouging out his eyes. Healing magic and potions were great for restoring what was damaged, like burns, cuts, and broken bones, but they couldn’t replace what was stolen, like severed limbs and missing organs, so Noah had to completely remove the orbs from their sockets. An iron grip around Galvin’s throat helped keep him still and quiet. Noah brought his Ziradith illusion over and spoke through it with her voice, continuing his malicious torment.

“You pathetic little worm. You’ve always been a failure.”

“Urk ... Mother...” Galvin wheezed.

“From the day you were born, all you’ve done is disappoint me. I wish Seraph had been my son; he has talent. At least if you were a girl, I could have married you off and gotten something in exchange, but no, you destroy everything you touch. You’re worse than worthless. You will never be king; you’ll never be anything. In fact, you won’t be needing any of this.”

Noah went to work once more with the dagger, and even while strangling the prince, a deep, guttural howl of agony echoed over the slums, as well as the squelching of flesh being sawn through. His penis and testicles were removed, then thrown into a nearby alley and seized by rats. The sound of his scream was what Noah had been aiming for, that particular pitch. It was the sound of a mental tendon snapping, a foundation of his sanity breaking beyond any possibility of healing. He would never recover from this, ever.

When Noah was done, he finally let Galvin breathe and then stood up. “Can you hear me, Princess? Pay close attention, because it’s the last warning you’ll get. This is what happens when you pick a fight with me, when you get bored and try to play with fire. Remember this moment, and every sensation you’ve experienced, and know that you brought it all upon yourself with your idiocy.

I don’t want you to ever forget the pain I’ve inflicted on you. I don’t want it to dull. I want those wounds on your soul to bleed and never scab over. Every night, you’re going to wake up in a cold sweat, sobbing in terror from your nightmares of this day.

From now on, if you ever so much as speak my name, enter the same room I’m in, or point in my general direction, I will hurt you in the most unholy ways imaginable. If I am ever attacked, incriminated, arrested, or even just mildly bothered because of you, something you did, or someone you know, I will come after you and your mother, and there will be nowhere safe to hide. No dungeon will hold me, and no fortress will protect you.

There could be a hundred knights with swords and wands pointed at me, and it wouldn’t matter. They’ll just be the audience, there to witness the myriad tortures I have planned for you. There is still so much pain I can inflict, pain you can’t even imagine. Do you understand?” Galvin nodded while sobbing in pain and terror. Without his eyes, any tears he produced simply fell into the empty sockets. “Good. Now, when you’re found, here’s what you’re going to tell them...”

Noah crafted a cover story, ensuring the details were forever burned into Galvin’s memory. If he had simply killed the prince and returned from the slums alone, no one would ever believe he was innocent. He needed Galvin to be found alive, throwing out a false lead. Besides, he wouldn’t have gone through all that effort to torment this punk just to put him out of his misery.

He soon heard soldiers approaching, likely dispatched to search for Galvin or simply investigating all of the horrific screams. Noah left him where he was and turned invisible, then made his walk back to the academy. Upon returning, he first went to get a new uniform and wash off Galvin’s blood. Witnesses would confirm he left the grounds with the prince in pursuit, but he could still deny inflicting those injuries. Next, he went to see the commandant. He figured it best to get it out of the way.

“Where is the prince?”

“I was wondering what you’d bring up first when I got here. I led him into the empty slums and then gave him the slip. He’s probably still out there, looking for me.”

“That means I can move on to the second question. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“Of course.”

“If even half the things about last night I’ve heard are true, you have tarnished the reputation and dignity of this academy and this country. Forget just the Herald family; the people you’ve angered with this are as many as they are powerful. At the moment, I’m still adhering to our agreement for your continued stay at this academy, but the authority I wield, the tiny bit of protection you have, if not soon taken, will be rendered pointless by your fast-approaching execution. However this blows over, it is no longer possible for me to survive unscathed. You have successfully ruined my career and reputation. I might not even last to the end of the year.”

“So, the duchess takes second place on your priorities list. I’m guessing your third question will be about the fight and the damage to the mess hall. Do you still want to ask it, or have I ruined the reveal?”

“Have you heard nothing I’ve told you?!” Ford shouted while slamming his fist onto the table.

“Yes, yes, I heard everything. What I have yet to hear is a problem that can’t be dismissed or swept under the carpet with proper incentive. You talk about my list of enemies, but I don’t think you’re aware of my list of allies; countless businessmen, nobles, and knights who hated the duchess. And even if they fall flat, do you really think I’d go against the Herald family without making preparations? I survived their first attempt on my life, and I’ll survive the last.

If you receive orders to expel me, then do so, just on paper. I still have things to take care of here, so I’ll be sticking around, and I’ll leave you a nice payout in case you do lose your job. If anyone from the palace comes to arrest me, feel free to tell them where I am. Any shackles they put on me won’t stay for very long. I just stopped by to make sure you understood this.”

“Damn you, Noah. You’re not even a cadet anymore; you’re just an affliction, a disease destroying this academy.”

“Well the year is almost finished, so I won’t be around much longer.”

Noah left the commandant’s office and made his way to the library as he always did. His enrollment at the academy was soon to expire, and he had to take advantage of the library while he still had access. Until then, it was business as usual. However, he had already speed-read through just about every useful book available, and at this point, he had little hope of finding any diamonds in the rough. It was only because of this certainty that he would risk jeopardizing his stay by exacting his revenge.

There, he arrived to find Alexis and Sophia, both shocked to see him. “Where have you been?!” Alexis exclaimed.

“I led Galvin for a merry chase through the slums and then ditched him.”

“So what’s going to happen to you? Are you being expelled?” Sophia asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. The kingdom may blow smoke, but I haven’t broken any actual laws, and I’m not afraid of the Herald family. As for the commandant, he didn’t expel me for my lecture, and he won’t expel me for this.”

“Back at the mess hall, you said Galvin burned down the Knight’s Sheath. Is that true?”

“It is. He started the fire while I was inside to try and kill me. Suffice to say, I took the act a bit personally. Last night was my retaliation.”

“Henryk was struck with paralysis, and no one knows where Mark is. Your doing?” Alexis asked.

Noah thought back to his last interaction with Mark.

Before burning down, the Knight’s Sheath had been the premier brothel in Colbrand, but it had competition. Numerous operations were spread throughout the city, but if the Knight’s Sheath was the city’s best, then Noah had just arrived at its worst. The building was at the edge of the slums, a drab box with iron bars on its few windows and a desperate need for either renovation or demolition. It didn’t have a name like the other quaint establishments, formal or otherwise, for it operated on the lowest rung of society.

Noah, his head wrapped in bandages, approached the door, heavy on its hinges and solid construction, but now rotting. He gave a hard knock, and a slot opened up. “Who are you?” a man asked.

“A businessman, here to speak with your boss. I was given directions by someone from the Knight’s Sheath.

The door opened, and the fat guard looked at Noah and grinned with a smile full of rotten teeth. “You’re a long way from the Knight’s Sheath.”

Noah tossed the man a bronze coin. “I have something your boss will be interested in. Take me to him.”

“Yes sir,” the man said with renewed spirit.

He let Noah inside, and the first thing that hit him was the smell, putrid enough to bring tears to his eyes. If a sunbaked public outhouse had sex with vomit-drenched roadkill and gave birth inside a goblin tunnel, the resulting stillborn abomination would be hung up like an air freshener to make the house bearable.

Noah followed the man deeper into the building while sparing glances into the various rooms. The customers were the seediest in the city and could have anything they wanted as long as they had money; slaves of every sex, age, and race, plus animals, and even corpses. The slaves here were bought dirt-cheap and kept perpetually chained, sleeping on straw mattresses that were either damp or crusted with filth. Semen, urine, feces, and just about every other bodily fluid formed a greasy patina on the floor, as well as being smeared on the walls in many places. Somewhere in the building, a person was screaming. They were young.

Noah was brought into a dingy office where a man was sitting behind a desk with a glass and a bottle of liquor. He had a nice coat, but it needed a wash, same with the room. It was probably the cleanest in the building, but the smell had lost little of its pungency. Noah instinctively knew that multiple people had died in this room.

“Boss, this guy says he wants to talk to you.”

“Oh? And what can I do for you this evening, sir?”

There was a chair in front of the desk, but Noah decided to stand. “I have a business opportunity for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sack of Elutrin, tossing it onto the man’s desk.

“What’s this?”

“Medicine, for a certain sick individual.”

“I don’t understand.”

“After I leave, a young man is going to come in here, asking for a job. That right there is what you will pay him with. It’ll make him work harder than any of your slaves. Use him however you see fit; just try to avoid working him to death. When you run out, go to the Knight’s Sheath. I’ve arranged for you to be able to buy more from the bartender, but only enough for you to give to your new model employee. If he dies, let them know and you can move on to the next stage.”

“I still don’t understand what’s going on. Why are you doing this?”

“He has a debt to pay, and I figure this is the most fitting way for him to pay it back.”

After hashing out the details, Noah left the brothel and met Mark outside. He had lost weight, now appearing gaunt and sickly, as well as prematurely aged. Like all heavy drugs, Elutrin ate away at the lifespan of its users, and a severe addict like Mark had been burning the candle at both ends.

“It’s done. Since you can no longer pay me, I’ve passed the buck.”

“Look, I’ll get you the money! I may have been disowned, but I still have assets!”

“You don’t have to buy from me anymore. The boss inside is who I buy from, and he’s willing to sell directly to you in exchange for working for him. Do whatever he says, and you’ll get as much as you want.”

“What kind of place did you say this was?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. This is the only option you have, understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, I’ll do it,” he said with a nod, his whole body shaking. He hadn’t had a hit all day, and he was aching all over.

“Good, now go in and get to work.”

Mark nodded once more and entered the brothel. After that, no one from his old life ever saw him again.

“I have no clue what happened to Henryk and Mark,” said Noah to Alexis, “but I won’t shed a tear for them. Perhaps the gods have a sense of humor.”

Noah was eventually pulled back to the commandant’s office. When he arrived, he found Ford waiting for him and an old dwarf that Noah recognized. He was a gold-ranked knight sent to enact the king’s will, often in the form of investigations. The last time Noah saw him, he was leaving the Knight’s Sheath and accompanied by ordinary troops, but this time, a squad of knights was stationed in the hall, and two of them were silver-rank. It seemed someone at the palace was smart enough not to use the kid gloves if things went south.

“Cadet Noah,” the dwarf said.

“Sir Marcus Berholm. On top of being the Royal Adjudicator, you’re a gold-ranked knight, correct? It’s a great honor.”

“That’s right, lad. If you know me, then you know what I do.”

“I assume you’re here regarding the events from either last night or this morning.”

“Were His Highness not found before I came here, it would be the former. He had been beaten and tortured half to death. The commandant has been filling me in on the details leading up to his disappearance.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, I had nothing to do with him getting roughed up. The prince went on a bloody rampage, so I just led him into the slums and then ditched him. I assumed he’d spend all day running around down there, looking for me. He was fine, last I saw him.”

“Given your past interactions with his family, I’m hard-pressed to believe you wished him no harm.”

“I had already done everything I needed to last night, and anything more would have just been gratuitous. My idea was to just let him keep digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. He probably used up all his mana and got attacked by someone living in the slums.”

“Well, until His Highness’s attackers are identified and captured, you will be sitting in a dungeon. That’s not even counting what will happen to you regarding last night. Consider yourself lucky if you ever see daylight again.”

“I didn’t break any laws last night. It’s a scandal, sure, maybe but nothing illegal. As for the prince, you said you found him alive, right? Just ask him who or what did it.”

“We did.”

“And did he tell you I attacked him?”

Sir Berholm hesitated. “No, he said he was maimed by several beggars, crazed and bloodthirsty.”

“You knew that, and you still accuse me? I’ll bet he screamed his name at them, tried to order them around, called them a bunch of filthy commoners, and they didn’t take too kindly to it. I’ll admit, the prince and I don’t get along, and I’m no saint, but I have my ways of doing things. I believe in a light touch.”

“Fair enough. We’ll hold off on hauling you away until everything is confirmed, but I still have several questions for you.”

Berholm interrogated Noah for a while, but this wasn’t Noah’s first rodeo. He knew how to hide guilt and fake sincerity perfectly. He was eventually released, and wandering the halls, he crossed paths with Prince Seraph, appearing to be in a foul mood.

“You son of a bitch! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Tell me what you did to my brother!”

“I ditched him in the slums, and he made the mistake of antagonizing the local vagrants. His wounds sound pretty bad. I doubt he’ll be making a return to the academy any time soon.”

Seraph stormed over. “I’m gonna cave your skull in!”

“You’re not going to wait until I go to my room and then burn the dorms down?”

His words halted Seraph’s charge. “Don’t you try to lay that on me. I wasn’t even involved. I had no interest in helping him get revenge when he lost his woman through his own weakness.”

“But still, you knew about it, didn’t you? You knew what he planned to do, the damage he planned to cause, and you did nothing to prevent it.”

“Like I said, I didn’t care either way.”

“Then you’re just as guilty as he is and deserve to suffer just the same. Believe it or not, you and I are in complete agreement that this feud between us needs to be settled. However, a regular duel won’t cut it, and there is no way we can fight the way we want to here on the academy grounds. Someone will get in the way, and life will become very unpleasant for the both of us.